Harris: You have considerable experience in the diversity and brand marketing arenas, particularly with image enhancement strategies for urban-friendly companies like Nike. Do you have any specific additional recommendations for techniques that are really going to speak to this audience?

Patton: Content is king. Urban consumers are really content creators and consumers of content. So, I think there are some great opportunities to work across platforms and windows, so to speak, be it on-line or off-line with mobile content, video on demand, etc… I know Comcast has done some innovative things with Russell Simmons' group -- the Simmons-Latham group -- to create an urban channel on the VOD side. I think you will start to see it expand across different windows with a plethora of content and different ways to deliver it to the consumer. I think this is promising for brands, and for the culture, as well, as it evolves and matures.

Harris: Anything else that I missed that you think is important to comment on?

Patton: I think the other thing is just that, on the automotive side, part of the strategy is having certain individuals who have emerged from the Hip-Hop generation's urban psychographic and transcultural experience having impact and influence on design and product development, which is very impressive. I was looking at one of the big car shows recently and one of the new concept cars was designed by a twenty-five year old kid. Not to mention the success of the Chrysler 300 can be attributed to an African-American, along with countless other examples which will soon be the norm. So, you begin to see consumers really playing a key role in product development. Thinking along those lines might just make campaigns that much more successful, particularly in this space.

Berens: Erin, when we last met at one of our iMedia Summits, you were working on a book…

Patton: Yes.

Berens: …and, how is it going?

Patton: Very well. The book is pretty much complete and we are in the process now of securing the right publishing relationship. From a timing standpoint, I am driving the book around the release of my urban consumer segmentation quantitative study which I will be introducing early this year with several flagship partners, including Pepsi, and several others which will be announced in the coming weeks. The segmentation study will be the benchmark for the urban market and future market paradigm using a segmentation framework that has already proven to be a very useful instrument for several Fortune 100 companies. And, a big piece of that is interactive. So, we will have some good, solid data that will be actionable.

Berens: I know the book is going to be relevant for our main iMedia audience; what about for the automotive marketers who are reading this right now?

Patton: Absolutely. That is one of the categories that really has not only benefited, but responded to a unique relationship and position within the urban market and culture, and has really kept its finger on the pulse and done some very innovative things in terms of strategic partnerships and lifestyle marketing. The car makers have recognized that certain individuals have credibility within the culture, not only to just create buzz, but also to drive sales and influence product development. Also, when Hip-Hop artists began stating they want their trucks to sit on "Dubs" (20" rims), the smart auto makers went out and began equipping their vehicles to come standard with certain rim sizes that were appealing to the urban car enthusiast. 

Also, Cadillac could have looked the other way and taken for granted the urban consumer loyalty and sales generated from the "trickle down effect" of Hip-Hop artists like Ludacris and others actively dropping the Escalade name in their lyrics and flaunting it in their videos. But they actively engaged those consumers and the sports and entertainment elite with events that gave them exclusive opportunities to see and drive the new Escalade first, which appealed to their early adopter mindset. In the process, they were also able to create a consumer laboratory to leverage their astute product knowledge and insights to enhance the product along the way.

The key is to leverage the buzz and translate it into a product development and marketing agenda that captures the critical masses within specific urban market segments with affinity for the specific brand in an automaker's portfolio. This could be the luxury urban segment or value-conscious urban segment, which doesn't necessarily need "badge" items to reinforce status and prefers a car to be an individual sanctuary that allows them to be true to themselves and get them where they need to be. That's the way to build a sustainable business against the urban market that doesn't have to live outside of what the core brand is all about.

There is a great deal more of that in the book, where we also address how this has all unfolded in the evolutionary sense from the creative, transcultural collision between African-American and Latino culture and the role of media outlets such as Dub Magazine and MTV, which opened a window into the fusion between the automotive culture and athletes and entertainers. And from there, you get Pimp My Ride, Snoop Dogg calling the Chairman of Chrysler and everything in between. So, we cover all of that evolution and how it began, where it is and, in many cases, where it is going. There is definitely some valuable insight there.

Jodi Harris is the editor of iMedia Connection's Driving Interactive.

Brad Berens is executive editor of iMedia Connection.

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